Judge's ruling ignores animal welfare violation and punishes Nahfawi for documenting abuse

The public prosecutor in Mount Lebanon, Bilal Halawi, decided to arrest animal rights activist Ghina Nahfawi, after she refused to delete a video documenting a sheikh's abuse of animals, by tying a dog to his car and dragging it in the town of Al-Azzounieh, Aley district.

Nahfawi had received a call two days ago from the Baabda police station informing her of the need to appear, based on a complaint of defamation, slander, and "inciting religious sentiment" filed by the so-called Sheikh Samir Sharafeddine.

The problem lies in the judge's decision, which ignored that "causing animal suffering" constitutes a violation of the Animal Welfare Law No. 47/2017, and punished Nahfawi instead of holding accountable those who violated the law.